No victims of HIV

Dan Owino, HIV counsellor, declared his own positive status live on air at Radio Waumini [CAFOD]

Dan Owino, 27, took the radical step of declaring his HIV status live on radio in Kenya. Since then, he has counselled many young people about taking a positive attitude to living with the disease

Kibera is the largest and poorest slum in Africa, located in the south of Nairobi, Kenya. Mud huts, brick and wooden shacks crowd together housing almost one million people who migrated to the capital city in search of a better life.

Young men such as Dan Owino, 27, struggle each day to finds ways to earn a living. He cannot afford the bright light entertainment of Nairobi nightlife. Instead he listens to the radio.

Dan and his friends are avid listeners to presenter Jane Mwangi’s Saturday show The Groove, which broadcasts across Nairobi on Radio Waumini.

They got hooked on the programme because it reflected young people’s views and gave them information that they sometimes had difficulty finding on issues such as HIV and AIDS.

Going live

And it was while listening to a programme about HIV that Dan had an idea that would change his life.

“When I first heard of Radio Waumini I thought it would be just playing gospel music and talking about religion - young people don’t always like that.

"But then I heard about The Groove and was told it was talking about the issues that all young people want to know about.

“I’m not a Catholic but I enjoy listening to the show. We heard Jane talking about HIV, about relationships and sex, and that’s how it came to me that it would be a good idea to disclose my status on air.”

Dan has been aware of his positive status for the last three years but did not have the courage to tell anyone face to face. He felt that revealing his status would shock his family and friends.

He told his family to listen to the programme he was going to be on. In front of the microphone, and broadcasting across the Nairobi airwaves, he revealed his HIV status.

“On the programme I said I am here to break my silence. I am here to say I am HIV positive.

“When they heard me my family and friends said they admired my courage. I have three sisters, the youngest burst into tears when she heard and the others were very encouraging.

“Before I went on, I made sure they were informed about HIV and AIDS. They used to think AIDS meant death but I tried to explain to them that with drugs and healthy living it did not necessarily mean that.”

Youth can bring a change

Presenter Jane Mwangi says various programmes focusing on youth have helped change attitudes to HIV. Kenya has a population of 31 million, and an estimated 1.2 million are living with HIV.

But she admits to being nervous about Dan’s appearance on the programme, concerned he might be disowned by his family. She need not have worried as the programme generated a good response.

“It was a big responsibility. But he really wanted to do it and the listeners responded really positively. I felt we had taken the right decision as it was changing the way people thought about the issues.“

Dan’s courage to speak out brought unexpected results. Other organisations working on HIV in Kenya heard the broadcast and asked him to help other young people who are positive.

He was also elected organising secretary of the Kenyan Organisation of Youth living with HIV and AIDS, and works as a trained counsellor with orphans and vulnerable children, visiting people in their homes.

He says: “Since being on the show I think I’ve become a much more resourceful person. I’m counselling young people to show them that there’s still life when you are living positively.

“Yesterday I was speaking to two teenagers and I told them I was HIV positive. It was only once I told them my status that they felt they could tell me they were positive too.

"So many people have opened up to me about their HIV status since I went on the radio. Now I am telling people it’s ok to live with HIV."

Lucky to be living well

Dan understands only too well about the stigma attached to HIV, and how that can result in so many people refusing to believe they have the disease.

"I was diagnosed in 2003 but was in denial about it. Six months after my first positive test I went back a second time for confirmation then did a third test at a different, bigger medical centre because I still couldn’t believe it.

"My results were sent after two weeks, a big document with a huge rubber stamp on it saying HIV positive. So I had to face it."

Thankfully Dan found out in time as, if he had left it any longer, he may not have been physically strong enough to take the anti-retroviral drugs.

“These drugs can have bad side effects but my liver is functioning well, I’m eating well and I’m doing fine.

“HIV needs to be seen as a chronic disease, something that can be managed. We don’t want people to talk of ‘victims of AIDS’ or 'AIDS sufferers'. To me, there are no victims.”

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